Screaming children filmed the moment a Missouri driver marched up the aisle of a noisy school bus, grabbed a seventh-grader by the shirt, and tried to strangle him.
Zachary Carrel was left with cuts on his face and contusions to his neck after he was pinned to his seat and punched by Scott Robert Livingstone on the bus out of Heritage Middle School in Liberty, prosecutors say.
The bus was still on campus when the attack took place and a district security officer escorted Zachary off the vehicle, and ordered Livingstone to wait for police to arrive.
But the 67-year-old closed the door and set off with a bus full of children who were ‘crying and screaming’ by the time it was pulled over by police.
‘He had a grown man on top of him, choking him, and punching him repeatedly in the face,’ said Zachary’s mother Nicole Danna, ‘no child should have to go through that.’
Horrified students filmed as Scott Livingstone launched himself at the boy in the back seats
Zachary Carrel attempted to shield his head as the blows rained down on the Heritage Middle School bus in Liberty, Missouri
Zachary was left with cuts and bruises to his face and neck after the attack on the 494 route
The boy told his parents that children were joking around as they boarded the bus after school on Thursday.
Livingstone was on board as a substitute driver and yelled: ‘Sit down or I’m going to beat your a***’ according to court documents.
When Zachary told him ‘you can’t touch me’, the driver stormed to the back and grabbed the middle-schooler by the collar before putting his hands around his neck.
The boy managed to push Livingstone back into the seat opposite but found himself flipped around by the burly driver who began raining punches down before horrified classmates managed to haul him away.
Livingstone was arrested a mile up the road when police caught up with his bus from which several students were calling 911.
He told police he became ‘irritated’ and approached Zachary who had ‘mouthed off or said something’, grabbing the student around the top of his t-shirt.
The irate driver said he was ‘trying to scare him, not hurt him’, and found himself thrown to the floor during the scuffle.
But he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault, pleading not guilty at an arraignment hearing on Monday afternoon.
Livingstone, 67, told police he only wanted to ‘scare the boy’ but he has been fired by Heritage Middle School and charged with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault
Zachary’s parents, Nicole Danna and Brad Carrel, said their son is reluctant to resume journeys on the school buses and are demanding better checks on those employed to drive them
‘It’s infuriating, said Zachary’s dad Brad Carrel, ‘never should a child experience being assaulted by an adult
‘He was helpless. There was nothing he could do,’ Danna said after her son called her from the school.
‘He said, ‘Mom, I just got assaulted by the bus driver. I was choked and punched multiple times’,’ she told KCTV5.
‘It was heartbreaking,’ she continued, ‘I wasn’t there to protect my child.
‘For an adult that is so much older and should know better, to abuse our child like that is not ok.’
The school said it had fired Livingstone, and that ‘the safety of our students while at school, or in this case on the school bus, is our top priority’.
‘We are sorry that this incident took place, for not only the student involved, but also the other students that were present on the bus and witnessed the incident,’ principal Reagan Allegri wrote in a letter to parents.
‘Our team has provided regular check-ins with the students who were present on the bus yesterday afternoon to ensure they are doing ok here at school today.’
Zachary’s family said he is reluctant to resume journeys on the school buses and are demanding more stringent checks on those employed to drive them.
‘It’s infuriating, said Zachary’s dad Brad Carrel, ‘never should a child experience being assaulted by an adult.
‘Every kid’s life is in their hands whenever they get on the bus, so just do more of a background check because you want to know who your kids are riding with,’ he added.
‘You want them to be safe, no matter what.’
Livingstone has been released from jail on a $500 bond pending his next court appearance.